Psychology Commons^™

Trainer Appropriation And Transfer Of A New Prevention Approach In Material Handling Based On Action Principles, Denys Denis, Maud Gonella, Marie Comeau, Martin Lauzier

Rapports de recherche scientifique

Mise en contexte et objectif

Prenant acte du constat d’échec des formations à la manutention axées sur l’enseignement exclusif de la technique sécuritaire « dos droit – genoux fléchis », une nouvelle approche d’intervention dite « stratégie intégrée de prévention en manutention » (SIPM) a été proposée en 2011. Son originalité repose, entre autres, sur l’utilisation de neuf principes d’action permettant de comprendre et de commenter la richesse des techniques de manutention utilisées naturellement par les manutentionnaires dans leur milieu de travail. L’étude a pour objectif central d’évaluer l’appropriation et le transfert de la SIPM par un groupe d’intervenants formés …

Greater Engagement In Gender-Sexuality Alliances (Gsas) And Gsa Characteristics Predict Youth Empowerment And Reduced Mental Health Concerns, V. Paul Poteat, Jerel P. Calzo, Hirokazu Yoshikawa, Arthur Lipkin, Christopher J. Ceccolini, Sarah B. Rosenbach, Michael D. O’Brien, Robert A. Marx, Gabriel R. Murchison, Esther Burson

Psychology: Faculty Publications

Extracurricular groups can promote healthy development, yet the literature has given limited attention to indirect associations between extracurricular involvement and mental health or to sexual and gender minority youth. Among 580 youth (Mage = 15.59, range = 10–20 years) and adult advisors in 38 Gender-Sexuality Alliances (GSAs), multilevel structural equation models showed that greater engagement in GSAs over the school year predicted increased perceived peer validation, self-efficacy to promote social justice, and hope (baseline adjusted). Through increased hope, greater engagement indirectly predicted reduced depressive and anxiety symptoms at the year’s end (baseline adjusted). GSAs whose members had more mental health …

Does The Intake Method Affect Client Return Rate In A Community Counseling Center?, Ronald J. Nielsen

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

There is a large body of research examining the effects of client, therapist, and treatment modality variables on client outcome in mental health treatment. However, there are only a handful of retrospective studies of the intake process and its effect on client dropout or retention. The genesis of this research study was to examine and evaluate the intake methods of a community based, not for profit counseling center. The clinic found that clients would fail to return for therapy following an intake interview with a different counselor. Feedback from stakeholders indicated that the formal intake process was inefficient and direct …

Parental Involvement As A Mediator Of Ace Scores And Intelligence Among Children, Shirin Mostofi

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) include physical, sexual, or psychological maltreatment, domestic violence, household mental illness, household substance abuse and incarceration of parents. ACEs may have negative impacts on children, including brain development and health outcomes. Parents are pivotal figures in children’s lives that contribute significantly to their health, and cognitive development, and may be a critical protective factor, contributing to children’s resiliency and healthy growth. This study focused on the intellectual development of 5-11 year-old children whom may have been exposed to ACEs in their homes. More specifically, the purpose of this study was to examine parental involvement as a …

The Relationship Between Subsyndromal Symptomatic Depression And Cognitive Dysfunction, Bryce Jacobson

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Subsyndromal Symptomatic Depression (SSD), or subthreshold depression, affects roughly 15% of community-dwelling older adults and puts them at increased risk for developing Major Depressive Disorder (MDD), which represents a risk factor for Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) and may expedite disease progression. While the relationship between MDD and AD has been well established, the interaction between SSD and cognitive functioning has not been explored in depth. Further, clinicians have long postulated that depression is not a monolithic disorder but rather a group of disorders which are heterogeneous in onset, symptoms, course, and treatment. One hundred and six participants, 65 and older were …

The Effects Of A Polyphenol-Rich Diet In A Fruit-Fly Model Of Traumatic Brain Injury, Alexandra D. Trofimova

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a leading cause of death in the United States. Inflammation and oxidative stress activated by the TBI can lead to systemic inflammation. Gastrointestinal complications are common secondary injuries to TBI and are associated with elevated levels of common pro-inflammatory cytokines and oxidative stress found across the body. Intestinal permeability after TBI has also been established in the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster. Pomegranate polyphenols have strong anti-inflammatory properties that may reduce brain and intestinal inflammation and improve functioning after TBI. This study examined the protective effects of pomegranate polyphenol supplementation in a Drosophila model of TBI. …

Adverse Childhood Experiences And Cigarette Smoking: Demographic Moderators, Taylor Cosanella

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Research suggests that there is a dose-response relationship between ACE score and cigarette smoking, such that as ACE score increases, so does smoking behavior, but little is known about what factors moderate this relationship. Therefore, the goal of this study was to examine demographic characteristics as potential moderators of relationship between Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and cigarette smoking. A secondary data analysis was conducted using the 2013 California Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System data. The sample included 2,604 U.S. adults (54.8% female; Age: M = 53.3, SD = 8.10; 83.6%; Caucasian, 6.4% Asian, 5.9% Black or African American, 3.1% American …

Program Evaluation On The Kids First Program, Katherine E. Yamauchi

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

This study is a program evaluation of the Kids First program, an eight-week psychoeducation program, on parents and children who have experienced a divorce and/or separation. This study was conducted to assess the usefulness of specific program interventions as it relates to parental insight, co-parenting, and child adjustment. A descriptive analysis was conducted to examine results of the evaluations. Results indicated over 85% of the sample rated program satisfaction as moderately or very valuable, suggesting parents gained some knowledge and saw value in the program. Results also endorsed 95% of parents moderately or highly valued the effectiveness of the program’s …

Medical And Parental Predictors Of Self-Efficacy In Pediatric Chronic Illness, Naina Mahtani

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Self-efficacy, defined as the belief in one’s ability to succeed, is particularly important in youth struggling with chronic illness (CI) given its association with poorer adherence and worse prognosis. Parental factors such as income and marital status, and youth factors such as number of hospitalizations have been examined as contributing to self-efficacy in children. The aim of the current study was to assess the extent to which these variables predict self-efficacy in a sample of youth 8-17 suffering from CI. Data were collected from 217 families with a child with a CI aged 8-17, being seen by a medical provider …

Meal And Food Selection Patterns Of Binge Episodes In Ethnically Diverse Adults, Abigail Grace Alido

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Food selection and associated patterns among ethnically diverse adults with binge eating deserves greater attention given binge eating prevalence among ethnic minorities. The aims of this study were to examine meal patterns, location, and food selection during binge episodes in an ethnically diverse sample of adults seeking binge eating treatment. Participants were 29 adults (86% female) with a mean age of 36.5 (SD = 11.2). Participants had an average body mass index of 32.4 (SD = 8.74). Approximately 41% of participants self-identified as Hispanic/Latino. The Eating Disorder Diagnostic Interview (EDDI) was administered to determine binge eating behavior and to obtain …

Non-Accidental Trauma: Nature Of Subsequent Encounters And Related Outcomes, Marina Bassili

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Physical abuse results in a wide array of adverse outcomes, and victims of child abuse often require long-term, intensive care depending on the scope and severity of their trauma. The present study is an extension of a study which examined the services provided in the hospital to children with physical abuse that resulted in hospitalization (Kazandjian, et. al., 2016). It will examine the nature of subsequent hospital encounters in pediatric victims of Non-Accidental Trauma (NAT) at the Loma Linda University Children’s Hospital (LLUCH). Researchers will investigate the short-term and long-term physical, neurological, cognitive/developmental, behavioral, and social emotional effects experienced by …

Stage 2 Outpatient Adolescent Recovery (Soar) Program Family Therapy Manual, Sarah Yelim Nam An

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Rising suicide rates among adolescents is a serious public health concern. The frequency of self-injurious thoughts and behaviors drastically increases in the transition from childhood to adolescence (Nock et al., 2008; Nock et al., 2013). Suicide was the third highest cause of death between 1999-2006 for adolescents between the ages of 12 and 19, following unintentional deaths and homicide (Miniño, 2010). Despite the growing problem of adolescent suicide, treatments that meet Level One criteria, the highest level of research support for therapy as defined by the American Psychological Association (APA, 2006), are lacking. Dialectical Behavioral Therapy for Adolescents (DBT-A), a …

Distress Among Parents Of Overweight Children With Developmental Disabilities, Lilit Hovsepyan

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

The epidemic of childhood obesity, which occurs at higher rates for children with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD), has been shown to have many deleterious health effects for both children and their parents. Previous research has consistently shown that child externalizing and internalizing behaviors are predictive of parenting stress in parents of children with IDD. Less is known about the nature of this relationship when an additional barrier, child weight status, is examined in the context of this relationship. The current study investigated child and parent factors related to parental distress in a sample of children with IDD who present …

The Development Of A Therapeutic Alliance Focused Intervention, Amanda L. Mendez

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

The therapeutic working alliance is defined as the collaborative relationship between the therapist and the patient. This relationship largely determines whether the patient experiences therapy as helpful or unhelpful in reaching their agreed upon goals. The relationship between the therapeutic alliance and psychotherapy outcome has been well documented in the literature. The therapeutic alliance is considered a “main curative component” in the interpersonal process of therapy, and is the foundation necessary for successful therapy outcomes across various orientations of psychotherapy. Still, far less research has examined the relationship between specific therapist personality characteristics and the quality of the therapeutic alliance. …

Validity Of The Perceptual Ability Test, Brandon Schmid

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

The Perceptual Ability Test (PAT), a subtest of the Dental Admissions Test (DAT), has been used for many years by US Dental Schools to evaluate the perceptual ability of incoming applicants of their program. Perceptual ability is broadly defined as the ability to accurately process and interpret visual sensory information. Perceptual Ability skills are important in the field of Dentistry, as they are critical to the applied use of various dental tools and in surgical skills. It is assumed that performance on the PAT is predictive of dental students’ surgical skill development. However, multiple studies have found that the PAT …

Vestibular Evoked Myogenic Potential (Vemp) Test-Retest Reliability In Children, Elizabeth Fuemmeler, Amanda Rodriquez, Megan Thomas, Tom Creutz, Denis Fitzpatrick, Kristen L. Janky

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Objective—Vestibular evoked myogenic potentials (VEMPs) are short-latency muscle potentials measured from the neck (cervical VEMP; cVEMP) or under the eyes (ocular VEMP; oVEMP), which provide information regarding function of the saccule and utricle, respectively. VEMPs are reliable when performed in adults; however, reliability of VEMPs in children is unknown. Therefore, the purpose of the study was to determine the test-retest reliability of c- and oVEMP testing in normal control children.

Study Design—Prospective.

Setting—Hospital.

Patients—Ten adults, 14 adolescent children and 13 young children with normal hearing.

Interventions—c- and oVEMP testing were completed across two test sessions …

“Las Experiencias De Padres Con Hijos Discapacitados” Lived Experiences Of Mexican-Immigrant Parents Of Children With Identified Disabilities, Christina Cortez

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

A nurturing and engaging environment within the family often leads to enhanced student performance. Nonetheless, the education system continues to struggle to connect with families from racially, ethnically, and culturally diverse groups, particularly parents with limited English proficiency or those who have children in special education programs. Amplified difficulties may arise because children with identified special needs—such as physical impairments, learning deficiencies, or developmental disabilities—require additional support, interventions, parental support, and/or services. As the nation attempts to mainstream children in public education and provide them support, Mexican immigrant families in many cases remain underrepresented, or they fall into greater risk …

Development Of A Minority Stress Preventive Intervention For Sexual And Gender Minority Youth And Young Adults, Natalie Holt

Department of Psychology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Mental health disparities amongst sexual and gender minority (SGM) individuals are spurred by exposure to minority stressors and sustained by mediators of problems with emotion regulation, social support, and cognitive processes. Emerging clinical research suggests empirically supported behavioral health treatments can be culturally adapted to address these mental health disparities, however less work has focused on the prevention of symptoms. The present study developed a brief preventive intervention targeting mediators of the minority stress model for SGM youth and young adults aged 17 to 26. Focus groups with 8 SGM participants informed development to ensure the content and delivery of …

A Digital Mental Health Intervention To Reduce Depressive Symptoms Among Overseas Filipino Workers: Protocol For A Pilot Hybrid Type 1 Effectiveness-Implementation Randomized Controlled Trial, Melissa R. Garabiles, Andrian Liem, Karmia A. Pakingan, Wen Chen, Agnes Iok Fong Lam, Sebastian Burchert, Brian J. Hall

Psychology Department Faculty Publications

Background: The current pilot randomized controlled trial (RCT) protocol will comprehensively describe the implementation of a culturally adapted Filipino version of the World Health Organization Step-by-Step (SbS-F) program, unguided online psychological intervention for people with depression based on behavioral activation, among overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in Macao (Special Administrative Region). The main objective of this pilot study is to explore the preliminary effectiveness of the SbS-F program to decrease participant-reported depressive symptoms compared to enhanced care as usual (ECAU); and the secondary objectives are to explore the preliminary effectiveness of the SbS-F to decrease participant-reported anxiety symptoms and improve wellbeing, …

Development And Validation Of A Multidimensional Scale For Measuring Public Confidence In The Criminal Justice System, Jimin Pyo

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Two studies were conducted with an aim of developing multidimensional measures of public confidence that are conceptually integrated, psychometrically sound, and useful in predicting individuals’ law related behaviors. Study 1 involves two-phased construction of scale in which a preliminary inventory was generated (Phase 1) and then finalized after evaluating psychometric properties based on 304 US adults recruited through Amazon’s Mechanical Turk (MTurk) (Phase 2). As a result, six multidimensional scales were constructed respectively for measuring efficiency-, finality-, fairness-, strictness-, accuracy-, and transparency-oriented confidence. Despite more complexity of factor structures than originally expected, results of psychometric evaluation six scales of confidence …

Neurodevelopmental Mechanisms Of Adverse Trauma Outcomes In Emerging Adulthood, Olena Kleshchova

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Background: Exposure to traumatic stress and adversity during the formative years of development can have adverse effects on mental health, neuroendocrine stress system function, and the brain, that persist into adulthood. One candidate mechanism that might confer vulnerability to enduring adverse outcomes of early life trauma is disruption of normal brain maturation. As the brain matures, functional interactions among brain regions change until the functional brain architecture (i.e., the functional connectome) reaches a mature state in adulthood. Given that different neural circuits have distinct developmental trajectories and sensitive periods, traumatic stress at a given point in development might have …

Attachment, Exploration, And Internalized Homonegativity, Gregory J. Gagnon

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Background: Internalized homonegativity (IH; a.k.a. internalized homophobia), has been implicated in health disparities between lesbian, gay, and bisexual persons (LGBs) and their heterosexual peers. Yet, little available research has explored factors that may increase or decrease IH.

Objective: This dissertation investigates relations between child and adult attachment and IH. It further examines the mediating and moderating roles of exploration and mentalization, respectively, in the attachment–IH relation.

Method: One hundred fifty cisgender LGB adults participated in two waves of an online survey. The first assessed recalled child–maternal and child–paternal attachment and current attachment to the romantic partner. The second, conducted two …

Do Criminal And Successful (Non-Institutionalized) Psychopaths Differ On Internal, Environmental, And Contextual Characteristics?, Ahmed E. Enaitalla

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Psychopathy is a personality disorder characterized by shallow emotions, particularly social emotions such as guilt, remorse, and empathy, as well as an arrogant and impulsive interpersonal style that involves the manipulation and domination of others. Despite the long history of theory and research on psychopathy, there continues to be a disagreement as to whether antisocial tendencies and criminal behaviors are an inherent part of the construct or are one possible byproduct of the aforementioned traits. In an attempt to resolve this disagreement, some researchers have shifted their efforts towards the study of psychopaths who reside beyond the walls of prisons …

Taking It To Heart: Trauma And Cardiovascular Risk In Court-Involved People Of Color, Tanya Erazo

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Research supports that racial disparities in health persist in the United States, with cardiovascular risk and cardiovascular disease remaining particularly high in low-income, communities of color (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2013; Winkleby, Jatulis, Frank, & Fortmann, 1992). Public health literature often focuses on sociodemographic variables when assessing for health disparities without considering trauma or forensic populations. This dissertation provides an overview of literature that examines cardiovascular disease and its relationship to trauma, particularly in low-income, communities of color, and forensic populations. Although the dissertation culminates in providing results for an investigation …

Developmental Predictors Of Adolescent Mental Health Stigma And A Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial Of "Ending The Silence" In New York City, Joseph S. Deluca

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This study explored predictors of mental health stigma among adolescents and the effectiveness of a school-based mental health stigma reduction and health promotion program, “Ending the Silence” (ETS), developed by the National Alliance on Mental Illness. Youth mental health service use is impacted by many factors, but concern about stigma and low mental health knowledge have been consistently identified as leading barriers to help-seeking. Beyond education and contact program components, existing research on how to design a successful adolescent stigma reduction intervention has been inconclusive. A diverse sample of 206 high school students in New York City participated in the …

Wrongful Conviction Documentaries: Influences Of Crime Media Exposure On Mock Juror Decision-Making, Patricia Y. Sanchez

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Psychology and law researchers have urged colleagues to collaborate with the makers of popular media, such as documentary filmmakers, in efforts to educate the general public about wrongful convictions (Kassin, 2017; Wells et al., 2000). Recently, programs depicting wrongful convictions, such as Making a Murderer (Demos & Ricciardi, 2015) and When They See Us (DuVernay, 2019) have garnered substantial viewership. Research on general and case-specific pretrial publicity (Daftary-Kapur et al., 2014; Kovera, 2002) and the effects of crime media (Baskin & Sommers, 2010; Schweitzer & Saks, 2007) demonstrate that although consuming crime-related media and being exposed to information about a …

Intrapersonal And Interpersonal Factors Predicting Distress And End-Of-Life Planning Among Individuals With Advanced Cancers, Aliza A. Panjwani

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The social-cognitive processing model of adaption to cancer posits that both intrapersonal and interpersonal factors influence psychological adjustment (Lepore, 2001). In this dissertation, two intrapersonal factors, intolerance of uncertainty (IU) and experiential avoidance (EA), were examined in relation to emotional distress (psychological outcome) and advanced care planning (behavioral outcome) among patients living with advanced cancer. EA (efforts intended to avoid negative emotions, thoughts, images or memories) was hypothesized to mediate the relationship between IU (the ability to tolerate uncertainty or the unknown) and emotional distress. In line with the social-cognitive model, two interpersonal factors, social support from family and friends …

Sex/Gender Differences In Serial Position Profiles In Patients With Mild Cognitive Impairment And Healthy Controls, Emnet Z. Gammada

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Introduction: Alzheimer’s disease disproportionately affects more women, but paradoxically, men have a higher incidence of Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI). Researchers have suggested that women’s verbal memory advantage across the lifespan reflects better premorbid skills, which then require more neurodegeneration to manifest early clinical impairment. To date, measurement of sex differences in verbal memory have used total list scores. We proposed that a granular examination of serial position effects (SPE) in list-learning can refine the source of sex/gender differences.

Methods: A cross-sectional analysis of participants with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) and Healthy Controls (HC) was examined from the Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging …

The Contribution Of Trait Emotional Intelligence To The Relationship Between Childhood Adversity And Pscyhiatric Symptoms In Adulthood, Aura-Maria Morales

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Trait emotional intelligence (TEI) has been found to be an important predictor of and protective factor against psychopathology, including psychopathology in the context of trauma (Hofman et al., 2016; Rudenstine & Espinosa, 2018). The long-established empirical investigation of the relationship between trauma and psychopathology has brought attention to the significance of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). Similarly, recent literature has honed in on how important aspects of a person’s development such as their attachment style and the culture within which their development is embedded, can mutually inform their development of TEI. This dissertation is an attempt to derive a greater understanding …

The Role Of Attentional Processes In The Associations Between Syndemics And Hiv Risk, Raymond L. Moody

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Sexual minority men (SMM) remain the group most affected by HIV in the United States. The term “syndemic” has been used to describe high levels of comorbidity and additive effects that some factors—childhood sexual abuse, intimate partner violence, sexual compulsivity, substance use, and depression—have on HIV transmission risk behavior (TRB). Previous research provides support for an HIV syndemic among SMM, but mechanisms linking syndemic factors and driving the association between the factors and TRB are less understood. Some research suggests that executive attention and emotion dysregulation are linked with several syndemic factors. As such, the aims of this dissertation were …